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Showing papers in "Sustainability in 2019"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The concept of Industry 5.0 is introduced, where robots are intertwined with the human brain and work as collaborator instead of competitor, and it is argued that Industry5.0 will create more jobs than it will take away.
Abstract: Staying at the top is getting tougher and more challenging due to the fast-growing and changing digital technologies and AI-based solutions. The world of technology, mass customization, and advanced manufacturing is experiencing a rapid transformation. Robots are becoming even more important as they can now be coupled with the human mind by means of brain–machine interface and advances in artificial intelligence. A strong necessity to increase productivity while not removing human workers from the manufacturing industry is imposing punishing challenges on the global economy. To counter these challenges, this article introduces the concept of Industry 5.0, where robots are intertwined with the human brain and work as collaborator instead of competitor. This article also outlines a number of key features and concerns that every manufacturer may have about Industry 5.0. In addition, it presents several developments achieved by researchers for use in Industry 5.0 applications and environments. Finally, the impact of Industry 5.0 on the manufacturing industry and overall economy is discussed from an economic and productivity point of view, where it is argued that Industry 5.0 will create more jobs than it will take away.

480 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors used a computable general equilibrium model to analyze various policy scenarios for a carbon tax on greenhouse gas emissions from petroleum fuels and kerosene in Ethiopia, where the carbon tax starts at $5 per ton of carbon dioxide in 2018 and rises to $30 per ton in 2030.
Abstract: This study uses a computable general equilibrium model to analyze various policy scenarios for a carbon tax on greenhouse gas emissions from petroleum fuels and kerosene in Ethiopia. The carbon tax starts at $5 per ton of carbon dioxide in 2018 and rises to $30 per ton in 2030. Different scenarios examine the impacts with revenue recycling through a uniform sales tax reduction, reduction of labor income tax, reduction of business income tax, direct transfer back to households, and use by the government to reduce debt. Because petroleum fuels and kerosene are a relatively small part of the Ethiopian economy, the carbon tax has quite small impacts on overall economic activity while having a notable proportionate impact on greenhouse gas emissions from these energy sources, depending on the recycling scenario. The carbon tax can raise significant revenue -- up to $800 million per year by 2030. The impacts on the poor through increased cost of living are not that large, since the share of the poor in total use of petroleum fuels and kerosene is small. In terms of income effects through employment changes, urban households tend to experience more impacts than rural households, but the results also depend on the household skill level and the revenue recycling scenario.

468 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors take stock of the emerging research field through a literature review and provide a synthesis of special issue contributions by developing a framework that communicates and sets the direction for future research by linking digitalization, business model innovation, and sustainability in industrial settings.
Abstract: Digitalization is revolutionizing the way business is conducted within industrial value chains through the use of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, intensive data exchange and predictive analytics. However, technological application on its own is not enough; profiting from digitalization requires business model innovation such as making the transition to advanced service business models. Yet, many research gaps remain in analyzing how industrial companies can leverage digitalization to transform their business models to achieve sustainability benefits. Specifically, challenges related to value creation, value delivery, and value capture components of business model innovation need further understanding as well as how alignment of these components drive sustainable industry initiatives. Thus, this special issue editorial attempts to take stock of the emerging research field through a literature review and providing a synthesis of special issue contributions. In doing so, we contribute by developing a framework that communicates and sets the direction for future research by linking digitalization, business model innovation, and sustainability in industrial settings.

322 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors propose a framework of risks in the context of Industry 4.0 that is related to the Triple Bottom Line of sustainability, including economic risks, the risks associated with high or false investments, as well as the threatened business models and increased competition from new market entrants.
Abstract: The concept of “Industry 4.0” is expected to bring a multitude of benefits for industrial value creation. However, the associated risks hamper its implementation and lack a comprehensive overview. In response, the paper proposes a framework of risks in the context of Industry 4.0 that is related to the Triple Bottom Line of sustainability. The framework is developed from a literature review, as well as from 14 in-depth expert interviews. With respect to economic risks, the risks that are associated with high or false investments are outlined, as well as the threatened business models and increased competition from new market entrants. From an ecological perspective, the increased waste and energy consumption, as well as possible ecological risks related to the concept “lot size one”, are described. From a social perspective, the job losses, risks associated with organizational transformation, and employee requalification, as well as internal resistance, are among the aspects that are considered. Additionally, risks can be associated with technical risks, e.g., technical integration, information technology (IT)-related risks such as data security, and legal and political risks, such as for instance unsolved legal clarity in terms of data possession. Conclusively, the paper discusses the framework with the extant literature, proposes managerial and theoretical implications, and suggests avenues for future research.

256 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper presents a comprehensive review of the current and rising trends of blockchain technology usage in logistics and supply chain management.
Abstract: This paper researches decentralized data storage represented by blockchain technology and the possibility of its development in sustainable logistics and supply chain management. Although the benefits of blockchain technology have been most widely researched in the financial sector, major challenges in logistics, such as order delay, damage to goods, errors, and multiple data entry can also be minimized by introducing blockchain technology. This paper presents a comprehensive review of the current and rising trends of blockchain technology usage in logistics and supply chain management.

251 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: An overview of the AI techniques applied worldwide to address transportation problems mainly in traffic management, traffic safety, public transportation, and urban mobility is provided.
Abstract: The rapid pace of developments in Artificial Intelligence (AI) is providing unprecedented opportunities to enhance the performance of different industries and businesses, including the transport sector. The innovations introduced by AI include highly advanced computational methods that mimic the way the human brain works. The application of AI in the transport field is aimed at overcoming the challenges of an increasing travel demand, CO2 emissions, safety concerns, and environmental degradation. In light of the availability of a huge amount of quantitative and qualitative data and AI in this digital age, addressing these concerns in a more efficient and effective fashion has become more plausible. Examples of AI methods that are finding their way to the transport field include Artificial Neural Networks (ANN), Genetic algorithms (GA), Simulated Annealing (SA), Artificial Immune system (AIS), Ant Colony Optimiser (ACO) and Bee Colony Optimization (BCO) and Fuzzy Logic Model (FLM) The successful application of AI requires a good understanding of the relationships between AI and data on one hand, and transportation system characteristics and variables on the other hand. Moreover, it is promising for transport authorities to determine the way to use these technologies to create a rapid improvement in relieving congestion, making travel time more reliable to their customers and improve the economics and productivity of their vital assets. This paper provides an overview of the AI techniques applied worldwide to address transportation problems mainly in traffic management, traffic safety, public transportation, and urban mobility. The overview concludes by addressing the challenges and limitations of AI applications in transport.

249 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors performed a focalized investigation on revealing the relationship between positive and negative characteristics of social media and the learning attitude of university students for sustainable education, and they applied the social gratification theory to examine students' behavior practicing social media usage.
Abstract: In today’s world, social media is playing an indispensable role on the learning behavior of university students to achieve sustainable education. The impact of social media on sustainable education is becoming an essential and impelling factor. The world has become a global village and technology use has made it a smaller world through social media and how it is changing instruction. This original study is amongst the few to perform a focalized investigation on revealing the relationship between positive and negative characteristics of social media and the learning attitude of university students for sustainable education. However, this study aims to examine the constructive and adverse factors that impact on students’ minds and how these helped students to share positive and negative aspects with others. It is increasingly noticeable that social networking sites and their applications present enormous benefits for as well as risks to university students and their implications on students’ psychological adjustment or learning behaviors are not well understood. This study adapted the cluster sampling method, and respondents participated from five selected regions. Researchers distributed 1013 questionnaires among the targeted sample of university students with an age range of 16 to 35 years, and they collected 831 complete/valid responses. This study applied the social gratification theory to examine students’ behavior practicing social media usage. This study specifically identified 18 adversarial and constructive factors of social media from the previous literature. The findings revealed that the usage of social media in Pakistan has a negative influence on a student’s behavior as compared to positive aspects. Results may not be generalized to the entire student community as findings are specific to the specific respondents only. This study presents a relationship between antithetical and creative characteristics of social media and exhibits avenues for future studies by facilitating a better understanding of web-based social network use.

238 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors identify micro-and macro-dynamics of open innovation in addition to the dynamic roles of industry, government, university, and society, and propose a conceptual framework to understand open innovation micro- and macro dynamics with a quadruple-helix model for social, environmental, economic, cultural, policy, and knowledge sustainability.
Abstract: This paper explores how sustainability can be achieved through open innovation in the current 4th industrial revolution. Through a literature and practice review, we identify micro- and macro-dynamics of open innovation in addition to the dynamic roles of industry, government, university, and society. In particular, the industry continuously adopts open platforms to create and maintain ecosystem innovation. The government’s role has changed from regulation control toward facilitation. Universities have become proactively engaged in multiple areas, from technology transfer to knowledge co-creation. Societies and customers have started to form new concepts, R&D, and commercialization, resulting in a shared economy. Based on the analysis, we propose a conceptual framework to understand open innovation micro- and macro-dynamics with a quadruple-helix model for social, environmental, economic, cultural, policy, and knowledge sustainability. Furthermore, this provides an overview of the special issue, “Sustainability of Economy, Society, and Environment in the 4th Industrial Revolution”, which aims to respond to the 4th industrial revolution in terms of open innovation and cyber-physics from manufacturing to the service industry.

214 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors analyzed whether a systematic relationship exists between corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance and corporate financial performance using 191 sample firms listed on the Korea Exchange and found that CSR performance has a partial positive correlation with profitability and firm value.
Abstract: This study analyzed whether a systematic relationship exists between corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance and corporate financial performance using 191 sample firms listed on the Korea Exchange. The Korea Economic Justice Institute (KEJI) index of 2015 was used to measure CSR performance; profitability and firm value were used to measure corporate financial performance. Return on assets was used as a proxy for profitability, and Tobin’s Q was used as a proxy for firm value. The correlation between these variables and CSR performance was examined through correlation and regression analysis. The results confirm that CSR performance has a partial positive correlation with profitability and firm value. These results are partly consistent with those of previous studies reporting a positive relationship between CSR and Korean firms’ financial performance using the KEJI index before 2011. In the relationship between CSR performance and profitability, only social contribution yields a statistically positive correlation. Analysis of the correlation between CSR performance and financial performance indicators revealed a positive relationship between the growth rate of total assets and corporate soundness and social contribution. Both soundness and social contribution showed a positive correlation with Tobin’s Q, the measure of corporate value.

205 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors provide a comprehensive review about the current challenges related to food security and hidden hunger and present issues according to major factors, such as growing population, changing dietary habits, water efficiency, climate change and volatile food prices.
Abstract: The aim of the present research is to provide a comprehensive review about the current challenges related to food security and hidden hunger. Issues are presented according to major factors, such as growing population, changing dietary habits, water efficiency, climate change and volatile food prices. These factors were compiled from reports of major international organizations and from relevant scientific articles on the subject. Collecting the results and presenting them in an accessible manner may provide new insight for interested parties. Accessibility of data is extremely important, since food security and its drivers form a closely interconnected but extremely complex network, which requires coordinated problem solving to resolve issues. According to the results, the demand for growing agricultural products has been partly met by increasing cultivated land in recent decades. At the same time, there is serious competition for existing agricultural areas, which further limits the extension of agricultural land in addition to the natural constraints of land availability. Agricultural production needs to expand faster than population growth without further damage to the environment. The driving force behind development is sustainable intensive farming, which means the more effective utilization of agricultural land and water resources. Current global trends in food consumption are unsustainable, analyzed in terms of either public health, environmental impacts or socio-economic costs. The growing population should strive for sustainable food consumption, as social, environmental and health impacts are very important in this respect as well. To this end, the benefits of consuming foods that are less harmful to the environment during production are also to be emphasized in the scope of consumption policy and education related to nutrition as opposed to other food types, the production of which causes a major demand for raw materials.

203 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a comprehensive review of sustainable business models literature in various application areas is provided, which provides an insight into the state-of-the-art of sustainability business models and future research directions.
Abstract: During the past two decades of e-commerce growth, the concept of a business model has become increasingly popular. More recently, the research on this realm has grown rapidly, with diverse research activity covering a wide range of application areas. Considering the sustainable development goals, the innovative business models have brought a competitive advantage to improve the sustainability performance of organizations. The concept of the sustainable business model describes the rationale of how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value, in economic, social, cultural, or other contexts, in a sustainable way. The process of sustainable business model construction forms an innovative part of a business strategy. Different industries and businesses have utilized sustainable business models’ concept to satisfy their economic, environmental, and social goals simultaneously. However, the success, popularity, and progress of sustainable business models in different application domains are not clear. To explore this issue, this research provides a comprehensive review of sustainable business models literature in various application areas. Notable sustainable business models are identified and further classified in fourteen unique categories, and in every category, the progress -either failure or success- has been reviewed, and the research gaps are discussed. Taxonomy of the applications includes innovation, management and marketing, entrepreneurship, energy, fashion, healthcare, agri-food, supply chain management, circular economy, developing countries, engineering, construction and real estate, mobility and transportation, and hospitality. The key contribution of this study is that it provides an insight into the state of the art of sustainable business models in various application areas and future research directions. This paper concludes that popularity and the success rate of sustainable business models in all application domains have been increased along with the increasing use of advanced technologies.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the long-term relationship between economic complexity, energy consumption structure, and greenhouse gas emission, within a panel of European Union countries and two sub-panels: (i) European economies with higher economic complexity and (ii) European economy with a lower level of economic complexity.
Abstract: The aim of the paper is to examine the long-term relationship between economic complexity, energy consumption structure, and greenhouse gas emission, within a panel of European Union countries and two subpanels: (i) European economies with higher economic complexity and (ii) European economies with a lower level of economic complexity. Taking into consideration the heterogeneity among European countries, the heterogeneous panel technique is used, including panel estimation through fully modified least squares (FMOLS) and dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS). The empirical findings indicate a long-term equilibrium relationship between economic complexity, energy consumption structure and greenhouse gas emission within all three panels. Economic complexity and energy consumption structure have a statistically significant impact on greenhouse gas emission within all panels, but the influence is higher within the subpanel of countries with a lower level of economic complexity, suggesting a higher risk of pollution as the economic complexity grows and as the energy balance inclines in favor of non-renewable energy consumption. Our paper suggests that the economic complexity is a variable that must be taken into consideration when national economic and energy policies are shaped. Finally, policy implications for each panel of countries are discussed.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the characteristics of a sample of green bonds matched with their closest brown bond neighbors and found that green bonds have higher yields, lower variance, and are more liquid.
Abstract: If we examine the characteristics of a sample of green bonds matched with their closest brown bond neighbors, we encounter a challenge. Green bonds have higher yields, lower variance, and are more liquid. The institutional/private issuer and the green third-party verification/non-verification breakdowns help explain this puzzle. Green bonds from institutional issuers have higher liquidity with respect to their brown bond correspondents and negative premia before correcting for their lower volatility. Green bonds from private issuers have much less favorable characteristics in terms of liquidity and volatility but have positive premia with respect to their brown correspondents, unless the private issuer commits to certify the “greenness” of the bond. An implication of our findings is that the issuer’s reputation or green third-party verifications are essential to reduce informational asymmetries, avoid suspicion of green (bond)-washing, and produce relatively more convenient financing conditions.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a modified SERVQUAL model was used to measure customer satisfaction, and the effect of these dimensions (tangibles, responsiveness, empathy, assurance, reliability, access, financial aspect, and employee competences) on customer satisfaction in Jordanian banks was examined.
Abstract: Banks must meet the needs of their customers in order to achieve sustainable development. The aim of this paper is to examine service quality dimensions, by using the modified SERVQUAL model, which can be used to measure customer satisfaction, and the effect of these dimensions (tangibles, responsiveness, empathy, assurance, reliability, access, financial aspect, and employee competences) on customer satisfaction in Jordanian banks. Data were gathered from 825 customers in the Jordanian banking sector. The sample data were statistically analyzed through exploratory factor analysis by the SPSS program to determine service quality perception and customer satisfaction. The results illustrate that the modified SERVQUAL Model extracted four subscales in the new model instead of eight in the initial model. The first subscale contains four dimensions—assurance, reliability, access and employee competences. The second subscale consists of two dimensions—responsiveness and empathy. The third and fourth subscales—financial aspect and tangibility—are separate factors. Further studies should consider the dimensions of access, financial aspect, and employee competences as essential parts of service quality dimensions with the other subscales, so as to improve wider customer satisfaction in the banking sector. In the authors’ opinion, the modified SERVQUAL model is useful for addressing customer satisfaction in the banking sector.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The results indicate that the predicted values of the model and the actual values were in good agreement and accurately revealed the future developing trend of water quality, showing the feasibility and effectiveness of using LSTM deep neural networks to predict the quality of drinking water.
Abstract: This research paper focuses on a water quality prediction model which requires high-quality data. In the process of construction and operation of smart water quality monitoring systems based on Internet of Things (IoT), more and more big data are produced at a high speed, which has made water quality data complicated. Taking advantage of the good performance of long short-term memory (LSTM) deep neural networks in time-series prediction, a drinking-water quality model was designed and established to predict water quality big data with the help of the advanced deep learning (DL) theory in this paper. The drinking-water quality data measured by the automatic water quality monitoring station of Guazhou Water Source of the Yangtze River in Yangzhou were utilized to analyze the water quality parameters in detail, and the prediction model was trained and tested with monitoring data from January 2016 to June 2018. The results of the study indicate that the predicted values of the model and the actual values were in good agreement and accurately revealed the future developing trend of water quality, showing the feasibility and effectiveness of using LSTM deep neural networks to predict the quality of drinking water.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the influence of opinion leaders' characteristics (interactivity, authority, and activity) on online groups' knowledge sharing engagement and found that in-group knowledge-sharing engagement was driven by an opinion leader's interactivity and authority, whereas outgroup knowledgesharing engagement could not be facilitated by these types of characteristics.
Abstract: Opinion leaders often play key roles in online knowledge-sharing communities, which has intrigued a lot of researchers and practitioners worldwide. However, it is not clear how various characteristics of opinion leaders may affect different online groups’ knowledge-sharing engagement. This paper aims to answer this question by building upon social capital theory to examine the differential influences of opinion leaders’ characteristics (interactivity, authority, and activity) on online groups. In-groups and out-groups were distinguished, and the study used the context of an investment-oriented online knowledge-sharing community. By leveraging a unique aggregated group-level secondhand dataset collected from Snowball.com, we conducted log-linear and Poisson regression models. The results revealed that the intensity of online group knowledge-sharing engagement was heavily contingent upon the types of characteristics of opinion leaders. We found that in-group knowledge-sharing engagement (generating new knowledge) was driven by an opinion leader’s interactivity and authority, whereas out-group knowledge-sharing engagement (developing new members) could not be facilitated by these types of characteristics. Instead, the opinion leader’s activity hindered out-group users from joining in-groups. The study also identified a “mutual promotion” issue, which was generated from the association between in-group and out-group knowledge-sharing engagement.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors systematically analyzed the future challenges of the agriculture and food systems by focusing on their root causes and trends; and the interlinkages among the solutions proposed to address the challenges using social network analysis tools.
Abstract: The availability, access, utilization and stability of food supply over time are the four pillars of food security which support nutrition outcomes. Addressing the issues raised globally around these pillars remains a challenge. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) 2017 report “The future of food and agriculture: trends and challenges” outlined the challenges which will have to be addressed in order for sustainable agricultural services to cost-effectively meet the growing food demand of the world population. In this study, we systematically analyzed the future challenges of the agriculture and food systems by focusing on (1) their root causes and trends; and (2) the interlinkages among the solutions proposed to address the challenges using social network analysis tools. It found that, if trends leading to extreme poverty are reversed, several other challenges will also be partially addressed and that climate change has the highest impact on the network of trends. Improving food security would have positive impacts on food access and utilization. The clear outline of the qualitative relationships among challenges presented and insights will help their prioritization by decision makers. However, additional in-depth quantitative analysis is necessary before measures identified to tackle the challenges could be effectively implemented.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors analyzed the state of research and trends in biomass for renewable energy from 1978 to 2018 to help the research community understand the current situation and future trends, as well as the situation of countries in the international context, all of which provides basic information to facilitate decision-making by those responsible for scientific policy.
Abstract: The world’s population continues to grow at a high rate, such that today’s population is twice that of 1960, and is projected to increase further to 9 billion by 2050. This situation has brought about a situation in which the percentage of the global energy used in cities is increasing considerably. Biomass is a resource that is present in a variety of different materials: wood, sawdust, straw, seed waste, manure, paper waste, household waste, wastewater, etc. Biomass resources have traditionally been used, and their use is becoming increasingly important due to their economic potential, as there are significant annual volumes of agricultural production, whose by-products can be used as a source of energy and are even being promoted as so-called energy crops, specifically for this purpose. The main objective of this work was to analyze the state of research and trends in biomass for renewable energy from 1978 to 2018 to help the research community understand the current situation and future trends, as well as the situation of countries in the international context, all of which provides basic information to facilitate decision-making by those responsible for scientific policy. The main countries that are investigating the subject of biomass as a renewable energy, as measured by scientific production, are the United States, followed by China, India, Germany and Italy. The most productive institutions in this field are the Chinese Academy of Sciences, followed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Danmarks Tekniske Universitet and the Ministry of Education in China. This study also identifies communities based on the keywords of the publications obtained from a bibliographic search. Six communities or clusters were found. The two most important are focused on obtaining liquid fuels from biomass. Finally, based on the collaboration between countries and biomass research, eight clusters were observed. All this is centered on three countries belonging to different clusters: USA, India and the UK.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a comparative analysis of the public information provided by the most representative ESG rating and information provider agencies in the financial market in two periods: 2008 and 2018 is presented.
Abstract: Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) rating agencies, acting as relevant financial market actors, should take a stand on working towards achieving a more sustainable development. In this context, the objective of this paper is, on the one hand, to understand how criteria used by ESG rating agencies in their assessment processes have evolved over the last ten years and, on the other hand, to analyze whether ESG rating agencies are contributing to fostering sustainable development by the inclusion of sustainability principles into their assessment processes and practices according to the ESG criteria. This research is based on a comparative descriptive analysis of the public information provided by the most representative ESG rating and information provider agencies in the financial market in two periods: 2008 and 2018. The findings show that ESG rating agencies have integrated new criteria into their assessment models to measure corporate performance more accurately and robustly in order to respond to new global challenges. However, a deep analysis of the criteria also shows that ESG rating agencies do not fully integrate sustainability principles into the corporate sustainability assessment process.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the potential of alternative cements as a replacement of conventional OPC can only be fully realized through detailed investigation of binder properties with modern technologies, and seven prominent alternative cement types are considered in this study and their current position compared to OPC has been discussed.
Abstract: The cement industry is facing numerous challenges in the 21st century due to depleting natural fuel resources, shortage of raw materials, exponentially increasing cement demand and climate linked environmental concerns. Every tonne of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) produced releases an equivalent amount of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. In this regard, cement manufactured from locally available minerals and industrial wastes that can be blended with OPC as substitute, or full replacement with novel clinkers to reduce the energy requirements is strongly desirable. Reduction in energy consumption and carbon emissions during cement manufacturing can be achieved by introducing alternative cements. The potential of alternative cements as a replacement of conventional OPC can only be fully realized through detailed investigation of binder properties with modern technologies. Seven prominent alternative cement types are considered in this study and their current position compared to OPC has been discussed. The study provides a comprehensive analysis of options for future cements, and an up-to-date summary of the different alternative fuels and binders that can be used in cement production to mitigate carbon dioxide emissions. In addition, the practicalities and benefits of producing the low-cost materials to meet the increasing cement demand are discussed.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors developed a framework that redefines education for sustainable development (ESD) as a tool that can deliver the transformation required for society to reach a sustainable state.
Abstract: The UN 2030 agenda of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) envisions a future of inclusive equity, justice and prosperity within environmental limits, and places an important emphasis on education as stated in Goal 4. Education is acknowledged as a means for achieving the remaining Goals, with sustainability as a goal for education in target 4.7. However, the interconnectedness of the SDGs and the complexity of sustainability as a concept make it difficult to relate the SDGs to educational learning outcomes, with what Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) aims to achieve, left in ambiguity. Using systems thinking, we developed a framework that redefines ESD as a tool that can deliver the transformation required for society to reach a sustainable state. Using the SDGs as end points for this state, and through a participatory approach, education stakeholders and learners work together to construct a common vision of sustainability, identify the competences needed, and develop appropriate pedagogies and learning strategies. The framework allows for the development of evaluation tools that can support educational institutions to monitor and manage their progress in transforming societies towards sustainability.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors show that closing of the wastewater cycle by recovery of the energy content of process residuals could allow significant additional energy recovery and increased greenhouse emissions abatement.
Abstract: Urban water systems and, in particular, wastewater treatment facilities are among the major energy consumers at municipal level worldwide. Estimates indicate that on average these facilities alone may require about 1% to 3% of the total electric energy output of a country, representing a significant fraction of municipal energy bills. Specific power consumption of state-of-the-art facilities should range between 20 and 45 kWh per population-equivalent served, per year, even though older plants may have even higher demands. This figure does not include wastewater conveyance (pumping) and residues post-processing. On the other hand, wastewater and its byproducts contain energy in different forms: chemical, thermal and potential. Until very recently, the only form of energy recovery from most facilities consisted of anaerobic post-digestion of process residuals (waste sludge), by which chemical energy methane is obtained as biogas, in amounts generally sufficient to cover about half of plant requirements. Implementation of new technologies may allow more efficient strategies of energy savings and recovery from sewage treatment. Besides wastewater valorization by exploitation of its chemical and thermal energy contents, closure of the wastewater cycle by recovery of the energy content of process residuals could allow significant additional energy recovery and increased greenhouse emissions abatement.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It was concluded that there are no best activating agents; rather, each agent reacts uniquely with a precursor, and the optimum choice depends on the target adsorbent.
Abstract: The choice of activating agent for the thermochemical production of high-grade activated carbon (AC) from agricultural residues and wastes, such as feedstock, requires innovative methods. Overcoming energy losses, and using the best techniques to minimise secondary contamination and improve adsorptivity, are critical. Here, we review the importance and influence of activating agents on agricultural waste: how they react and compare conventional and microwave processes. In particular, adsorbent pore characteristics, surface chemistry interactions and production modes were compared with traditional methods. It was concluded that there are no best activating agents; rather, each agent reacts uniquely with a precursor, and the optimum choice depends on the target adsorbent. Natural chemicals can also be as effective as inorganic activating agents, and offer the advantages that they are usually safe, and readily available. The use of a microwave, as an innovative pyrolysis approach, can enhance the activation process within a duration of 1–4 h and temperature of 500–1200 °C, after which the yield and efficiency decline rapidly due to molecular breakdown. This study also examines the biomass milling process requirements; the influence of the dielectric properties, along with the effect of washing; and experimental setup challenges. The microwave setup system, biomass feed rate, product delivery, inert gas flow rate, reactor design and recovery lines are all important factors in the microwave activation process, and contribute to the overall efficiency of AC preparation. However, a major issue is a lack of large-scale industrial demonstration units for microwave technology.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Overtourism is an emerging concept facing the world’s main tourist destinations as discussed by the authors, and it is assumed an increasing significance in the literature by providing an exploratory study with which to better understand the origins of overtourism, its implications, and predicted future perspectives.
Abstract: Overtourism is an emerging concept facing the world’s main tourist destinations. The growth that tourism has undergone in recent decades is of two different types. On the one hand, the development of new technologies and the creation of low-cost airline carriers have increased tourism levels, leading to growth even in emerging economies. On the other hand, uncontrolled demand alongside a concentration of tourism in particular destinations impact negatively both territories and local communities. The problems caused in some destinations by the increasing, ongoing growth in tourism have created the issue of “overtourism,” which is assuming an increasing significance in the literature. This paper contributes to the literature by providing an exploratory study with which to better understand the origins of overtourism, its implications, and predicted future perspectives in respect to the issue. Examination of the new evidence presented here contributes to the expanding knowledge of particular problems of tourism development.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A comprehensive overview of the field relating to smart cities in terms of the production of regular publications, main domain of smart cities researchers, most influential countries, organizations and authors, and interesting research directions in the smart city researches is visually demonstrated.
Abstract: Smart cities have been a global concern in recent years, involving comprehensive scientific research. To obtain a structural overview and assist researchers in making insights into the characteristics of smart cities research, bibliometric analysis was carried out in this paper. With the application of the bibliometric analysis software VOSviewer and CiteSpace, 4409 smart cities were identified by the core collection of the Web of Science in publications between 1998 and 2019 and used in the analysis of this paper. Concretely, this research visually demonstrates a comprehensive overview of the field relating to smart cities in terms of the production of regular publications, main domain of smart cities researchers, most influential countries (institutions, sources and authors), and interesting research directions in the smart city researches. We also present the research collaboration among countries (regions), organizations and authors based on a series of cooperation analyses. The bibliometric analysis of the existing work provided a valuable and seminal reference for researchers and practitioners in smart cities-related research communities.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A roadmap for how research on interdependencies can meaningfully provide orientation for policy action is proposed, with a particular focus on methodological weaknesses, practical applicability to specific contexts, and utility for the development of policy strategies for coherent SDG planning and implementation.
Abstract: The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda, and their 169 targets, are interdependent and interlinked The successful implementation of all SDGs will rely upon disentangling complex interactions between the goals and their targets This implies that implementing the SDGs requires cross-sectoral processes to foster policy coherence Over recent years, academic research has produced a number of different proposals for categorizing the SDGs, systematically mapping the linkages between them, and identifying the nature of their interdependencies The aim of this review article is to provide ideas of how to move from generic appraisals of SDG interdependencies towards translating these interdependencies into policy action To do so, the article first provides an overview of existing frameworks for the systematic conceptualization of the SDGs and the interlinkages and interdependencies between them Secondly, the article critically discusses advantages and limitations of these frameworks, with a particular focus on methodological weaknesses, practical applicability to specific contexts, and utility for the development of policy strategies for coherent SDG planning and implementation Based on this discussion, the article proposes a roadmap for how research on interdependencies can meaningfully provide orientation for policy action

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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors draw on the transformations, just transitions, and social justice literature to advance a pragmatic framing of just transformations that includes recognitional, procedural and distributional considerations.
Abstract: Transformations towards sustainability are needed to address many of the earth’s profound environmental and social challenges. Yet, actions taken to deliberately shift social–ecological systems towards more sustainable trajectories can have substantial social impacts and exclude people from decision-making processes. The concept of just transformations makes explicit a need to consider social justice in the process of shifting towards sustainability. In this paper, we draw on the transformations, just transitions, and social justice literature to advance a pragmatic framing of just transformations that includes recognitional, procedural and distributional considerations. Decision-making processes to guide just transformations need to consider these three factors before, during and after the transformation period. We offer practical and methodological guidance to help navigate just transformations in environmental management and sustainability policies and practice. The framing of just transformations put forward here might be used to inform decision making in numerous marine and terrestrial ecosystems, in rural and urban environments, and at various scales from local to global. We argue that sustainability transformations cannot be considered a success unless social justice is a central concern.

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TL;DR: In this article, the authors used five machine learning methods, i.e., alternating decision tree (ADT), functional tree (FT), kernel logistic regression (KLR), multilayer perceptron (MLP), and quadratic discriminant analysis (QDA), to estimate flash flood susceptibility in the Tafresh watershed.
Abstract: Floods are some of the most destructive and catastrophic disasters worldwide. Development of management plans needs a deep understanding of the likelihood and magnitude of future flood events. The purpose of this research was to estimate flash flood susceptibility in the Tafresh watershed, Iran, using five machine learning methods, i.e., alternating decision tree (ADT), functional tree (FT), kernel logistic regression (KLR), multilayer perceptron (MLP), and quadratic discriminant analysis (QDA). A geospatial database including 320 historical flood events was constructed and eight geo-environmental variables—elevation, slope, slope aspect, distance from rivers, average annual rainfall, land use, soil type, and lithology—were used as flood influencing factors. Based on a variety of performance metrics, it is revealed that the ADT method was dominant over the other methods. The FT method was ranked as the second-best method, followed by the KLR, MLP, and QDA. Given a few differences between the goodness-of-fit and prediction success of the methods, we concluded that all these five machine-learning-based models are applicable for flood susceptibility mapping in other areas to protect societies from devastating floods.

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TL;DR: In this article, the authors used a bibliometric approach to review the relevant tourism literature and identified the field structure and the VOSviewer software is used to map the main trends in this area.
Abstract: Tourism represents one of the main industries in terms of job creation and economic development while sustainability in tourism represents a worldwide challenge. The objective of the present study is to use a bibliometric approach to review the relevant literature. Bibliometric indicators, such as citations, are used to identify the field structure and the VOSviewer software is used to map the main trends in this area. Over the period 1987–2018, a total of 4647 papers were found in Scopus regarding sustainability issues in tourism. Analysis of the leading journals, authors, institutions, and keywords indicates that: (1) the literature on sustainability issues in the field of tourism is significantly growing; (2) a mere six papers accounted more than 300 citations, but there are several prolific authors; (3) of the 614 sources included in the review, the most important have published 46.7% of the papers; (4) in terms of documents and citations, the United States is the leading country in this topic; (5) according to keyword trend network analysis, sustainability is becoming a strategic approach for companies and tourist destinations. Finally, this subfield within the tourism literature has considerable potential and is expected to continue growing.

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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors have collected data for solar radiation and wind speed for a period of one year in four major cities of Pakistan and found that solar energy is the best renewable energy option for Pakistan in terms of price, life span, operation and maintenance cost.
Abstract: Energy generation is heavily dependent on fossil fuels in Pakistan. Due to the huge population and current progress in industrialization, these sources are not fulfilling the existing energy needs of the country. Meanwhile, they have adverse environmental impacts and are economically unsuitable to electrify remote areas. Consequently, there is a need to look for alternate energy sources. The aim of this paper is to find out the best renewable energy option for Pakistan. For this purpose, we have collected data for solar radiation and wind speed for a period of one year in four major cities of Pakistan. Results indicate that solar energy is the best renewable energy option for Pakistan in terms of price, life span, operation and maintenance cost. Key barriers have been identified over the whole solar energy spectrum through semi-structured interviews with industry professionals. And finally, important policy recommendations have been proposed for institutions and government to overcome these barriers and utilize maximum solar energy in the country.